No Stress
by Confetti Leaves
Summary: Gone Country Challenge. No boss, no clock, no stress, no dress code. No shoes, no shirt, no problem. Co-written with ArwenLalaith.


_I want a towel on a chair in the sand by the sea, want to looked through my shades and see you there with me, want to soak up life in laid back mode.. No boss, no clock, no stress, no dress code. No shoes, no shirt, no problem._

_- Kenny Chesney_

*****

Looking down at the clock on the radio, the segmented numbers taunted him with his impending lateness. He was at least a half hour off schedule. Traffic lined the streets, bumper to bumper, in both directions; he may as well have been parked in the middle of the free way for all the progress he was making and all the aggravation building in the other cars. Horns blared, middle fingers were brandished, muffled shouts came from inside vehicles, none of them polite.

God, how he hated Mondays. And commuting. And rain. Especially in the middle of summer, when the weather should be warm and life should be carefree.

Gloomy grey clouds overcast the forecasted blue sky. Rain smattered the wind shield, washing away any hopes that he may have had of having a good day.

Traffic continued to inch forwards at a pace worthy of a time lapse camera, in fact, he was pretty sure he had seen grass grow quicker. The time of his should-be arrival came and went. He looked down at the steering wheel, considering resting his head on it to take a quick nap, certain it wouldn't impede traffic at its current pace. A brightly coloured flip flop shaped key chain bobbing from the ignition caught his eye and, for the first time that morning, he smiled. In his scramble to get out the door, he couldn't find his keys and didn't have time to look for them, snatching JJ's keys off the hook instead. Wistfully, he wished he were somewhere warm, where summer was more than a fading dream.

Behind him, a driver honked obnoxiously, reminding him to pull forwards. The radio announcer warned of a major collision awaiting him in the span between his current location and FBI headquarters. He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes and resting his head on the steering wheel. Not even 8:00 and already he could feel a headache bunching at the base of his skull.

It sure was a nice dream... He wondered what two one-way tickets out of here would set him back.

******

"Morning Hotch," Reid smiled as he walked into the bullpen. "Have a good weekend?"

"Morning," he replied dully, before quickly returning to his office.

"What's wrong with Hotch?" Reid asked JJ who was at the kitchenette with Morgan and Emily.

"Sorry Reid," she apologised. "We had a bad weekend and today he was late for an important meeting with Strauss because he was caught in traffic." She sighed, "Strauss just left his office five minutes ago."

"Oh," he said. "What happened?"

"Jack came to stay with us over the weekend, we were having a great time actually, but Jack decided it would be fun to climb trees..."

"And he fell?" Emily asked.

"Broke his left arm," she winced. "Jack cried for hours. Then someone sent virus to Hotch's computer. Garcia told us it would be better to get a new one. And our dishwasher broke down too..."

Morgan shook his head, "Looks like I'll be staying out of his way today."

"Yeah, me too," Emily quickly agreed.

******

Hotch sighed as he made his way home. It was almost eleven when he finally left his office. Apparently, Strauss had insisted that he write a report to explain his tardiness this morning. He quickly made his his way to a shelter, today was definitely not a good day. He quickly made his way towards shelter; it had been raining since morning and the downpour hadn't relented for even a minute since then. A miserable end to a miserable day...

"Hey," JJ smiled as he opened the door, "I was wondering if you're going to spend the night in your office."

He simply smiled and pulled her into his arms, holding on to the one good thing in life today. "I missed you," he whispered, burying his face in her hair.

"Bad day, huh?"

"The worst."

"Go take a bath. Come to the guest room once you're done, I've got a surprise for you." She instructed, pushing him down he hall.

******

"Jayje?" Hotch knocked on the door, "Can I come in?"

"No!" She shouted from opposite the door, "Close your eyes first."

"Why?"

"Because I told you to."

He shook his head, wondering what she was up to. "Okay, they're closed."

He heard the door open and JJ's soft hands pulling him into the room. Soft tropical music filled the room, and the sweet smell of coconuts and pineapples relaxed him. Everything reminded him of their vacation to Hawaii a month ago. "Open your eyes."

Hotch grinned as his eyes took in the sight. There was a screen with a fake view of the ocean, beach chairs with towels, and a warm orange glow covered the room. "This is nice," he smiled. "That is even better," his grin widen as he focused on JJ, who was wearing the same turquoise blue bikini she wore on their vacation.

"I'm glad you liked it," she smiled.

Sitting down on one of the beach chairs, he closed his eyes again, "It's like a dream come true," he mumbled, remembering his wish in the car this morning.

JJ handed him drink that smelled thickly of tropical fruit as she settled into the other chair. She sighed contentedly as she slipped her hand into his and clinked her glass against his. "This is the life, eh?"

He was about to say something in response, but was cut off by his cell phone ringing. He pulled it from his pocket and was about to answer it when JJ held out her hand, clearly demanding he relinquish it.

"There's no cell phone service in our tropical paradise," she scolded.

He smiled, "I think I like it here." He leaned it to whisper conspiratorially, "Let's never leave."

She leaned in to kiss him gently, giggling when the sunglasses on the top of her head knocked against his forehead. "Oh honey, my paradise is wherever you are."

"I'd still rather stay here, no cell phones, no vigilantes, no rain, no traffic…"

"No Strauss…" she added

He sighed happily, "Ah, Paradise…"

* * *

**This is our very first time writing a story focusing on JJ/Hotch. So JJ/Hotch fans, let us know what you think. Thanks!**


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